Ask A Historian

[Minimalist]

The Colosseum was brick covered in marble.  As noted above, the marble has largely been removed and some of the brick work came down due to various earthquakes.  The population of Rome shrank to about 10,000 in the Middle Ages which was still a sizable city at the time but far reduced in scope from its previous million+.  Some of the biggest thieves were church officials who built palaces for themselves...you know, while they were supposedly giving a shit about the poor.

[Longhorn]

Min, did you know Jeb means fuck in Croatian?

[Cyberman]

In America too.

[Pyrrho]

Hmmm.... I want to jeb you does have a kind of right sound to it.

[Clueless Morgan]

The Colosseum was brick covered in marble.

It's actually Roman concrete encased in brick and faced with marble.

Some of the biggest thieves were church officials who built palaces for themselves...

The steps of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome are made from marble plundered from the Flavian amphitheater.

[Minimalist]

Hmmm.... I want to jeb you does have a kind of right sound to it.

It will if the fucker gets elected.

[Dystopia]

Do you think the dark ages were really dark or do you think it's an historical period like any other with ups, downs and averages? Do you agree that specialists and the common citizen overreact on the bad side of the dark ages?

[Iroscato]

Huh. I had you in mind as being in your 40's at the latest for some reason...

I have a question, not exactly historical but related to it. Overall, do you think we are getting better at learning from history and learning from our mistakes?

Clearly not.

As succinct as ever

[Jenny A]

Do you think the dark ages were really dark or do you think it's an historical period like any other with ups, downs and averages? Do you agree that specialists and the common citizen overreact on the bad side of the dark ages?

"Dark" refers to the lack of information compared to the time periods immediately before and after.  It was a fall into general illiteracy with few literate people interested in writing history.

That's one of the reasons most historians have moved to the term Middle Ages instead.  It's the period between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.  Technological advancement did happen, the windmill for example.   And universities were founded.  But there were the plagues.  And Christians suppressed much from ancient Greece and Rome.  Given the current situation it's ironic that much learning was preserved in the Middle East though burned in Europe.

[Minimalist]

Well said, Jen.